Tag: 18th Century

“…the wisdom of our forefathers is, not to tread exactly in their steps, and to do the same things in the same manner;

but to act in such a way as we might

with reason

suppose they would, did they live in these days, and things were so situated as they are at present.”

Thomas Sheridan, British Education: Or, The Source of the Disorders of Great Britain. Being an Essay Towards Proving, that the Immorality, Ignorance, and False Taste, which So Generally Prevail, are the Natural and Necessary Consequences of the Present Defective System of Education. With an Attempt to Show, that a Revival of the Art of Speaking, and the Study of Our Language, Might Contribute, in a Great Measure, to the Cure of Those Evils. In Three Parts [available for free, in its entirety, with Google Books]